Nantucket Island

Over Memorial Day weekend a friend of mine came up to visit from New York. We decided to go to Nantucket for Saturday and see what adventures we could find. Neither of us have been before so we thought it would be fun. I had heard a lot about Nantucket and that it is a great place to go and a lot of fun. So I guess you could say I had high expectations. I had checked the forecast for the day before we left and it was suppose to be in the low 60's and not to get past 64 degrees. I was expecting it to be a bit chilly.

I while back I happened to receive a coupon for a round trip ticket for two for the price of one in the first class cabin. If you wanted the deal you have to buy it the day the coupon is released otherwise the offer is not valid at the end of the day. So I decided I would get it and I was sure I would be able to find someone to go with. It paid off to have some things in my back pocket for when friends come and visit. We can do things besides the normal touristy things you do in Boston.

The first class cabin was much more comfortable than where we would have been sitting but it wasn't as fancy as I thought it would be. But it was warm (Except for the air conditioning) we were protected from the outside wind.

Jesse and I in the First Class Cabin. Here is our before adventure picture.

Happy, Awake and Excited!

When we arrived we rented some bikes and then headed into town to have some lunch. Okay I say into town which is like maybe one block and you are to town the harbor is basically in town. We stopped at this cute little cafe and had sandwiches. They has some fun art as their decor throughout the cafe. Lunch was good and feeling just what we needed for our long journey ahead of us.

It didn't take to long for us to figure out that the entire west side of the Island all looks the same. We rode our bikes to the Madaket Harbor, it was about a 6 and a half mile ride. We got ourselves a bit of a work out so the beach was refreshing. It was nice to kick off the shoes and feel the sand between my toes. The best part of the beach is when the waves come up and wash the sand out from under my toes. Jesse told me I had no need to worry about the weather because the sunshine always follows him and he was right. The sun came out and warmed up which made it for a very nice day and which made the water very refreshing.

On our ride back into town we stopped by the Old Mill, which was built in 1746 there were 3 other mills built and this is the only one left standing.

The Old Mill is believed to be the largest and oldest windmill in the United States still in operating condition and open to the public on a regular basis. This mill is known as a smock-type mill because of its shape and general appearance, very similar to the Dutch mills.

Sitting on a stone foundation, the windmill is a 50-foot octagonal structure with three floor levels. It has a revolving pent roof, or “cap,” which is moved in order to turn the 30-foot-long vanes (to which the sails are lashed) into the prevailing winds. 

 

The cap turns on its circular wooden base, which fits into a slotted circle at the top of the basic structure. The cap is turned from the ground by moving a 50-foot tail pole, which is permanently attached. Eight posts frame the exterior wall of the tower and run from the sills to the eaves.

All floor and wall framing is mortised, tenoned, and hickory-pegged, and with few exceptions, date from 1746. The primary structural wood is oak. Doors and windows are plank-framed with a single shutter hinged to each window frame. The interior mechanism is remarkable from an engineering standpoint. The vanes turn a huge gear mechanism made of wood, with some iron reinforcement. In turn, the moving gears force the top grinding stone to revolve. A wooden brake governs the speed of the vanes and stone. At the present time, the mill operation produces 5,000 pounds of meal from corn during the summer season.

The pole you see outside of the window is the 50 foot tail pole and the guide told us that they would use an ox to move it in order to change the direction of the windmill according to what direction the wind was blowing. There were four of us in our tour group. The other guy that was in the group wanted to see how heavy the tail pole was he asked the tour guide if he could try and push it to feel how heavy it was and the guide told him sure. He and Jesse tried to push it and they were successful. I guess you can say the two of them together were as Strong as an Ox.

Brant Point Lighthouse

We took a picture for a couple of people here so in turn they offered to take ours. We kindly accepted their offer.

Cold Jesse

It started to cool off when we were at the lighthouse.

Just before boarding the ship we made two stops. We stopped off at Aunt Leah's Fudge because we heard that she has the worlds best fudge. The Chocolate Peanut butter fudge was very tasty. Then we headed over to Cy's for dinner. We ran into a guy at Aunt Leah's named Neil and he told us that Cy's had the best Chicken Cesar Salad and that they marinade their chicken for a day or so in a their special sauce. So I ordered the Chicken Cesar Salad I don't think the chicken at set in anything but right to the grill. It was a good salad but not the best salad ever. We did however have an amazing dessert. 

This is Jesse and I at the end of the day in our after adventure picture. 

Happy, Tired, Cold and a bit damp (it was sprinkling a little)

As we were finishing up dinner it started to rain but we were lucky to have the weather we did for the day, so don't leave home without your Jesse to guarantee a day filled with sunshine.

All in all we had a good time and Nantucket was a fun place to visit. One of those things I can now check off of the bucket list.